This invention relates to general purpose liquid detergents especially adapted for household use. The compositions of this invention clean effectively at low pH levels, are non-toxic, noncorrosive, biodegradeable, and contain no phosphates.
Liquid cleaning compositions have been offered for sale for many years now. Some are especially formulated for household usage. Their uses include cleaning stoves, table tops, windows, woodwork, walls, and floors. Because of such diverse uses, such compositions must satisfy a great number of performance criteria. For example, such compositions must be able to clean surfaces that contain all types of dirt, grease, grime, food, etc., without damaging the surface sought to be cleaned and without leaving any undesirable residue. In order to clean such surfaces it has been generally considered necessary to formulate compositions which have a pH of between 10 and 12.5.
Other compositions for use in the home have been formulated for more specific uses, must satisfy other performance criteria, and are not considered to be general all purpose cleaners. One such example is a composition for cleaning rugs. For such use it has been determined that such compositions should have a pH of no more than about 9.5 since pH's above this level can seriously degrade the carpet dyes or the carpet itself.
Liquid cleaning compositions are also formulated for institutional and industrial usages. In most instances such compositions are formulated to suit particular uses. Most of the time their compositions differ substantially from household liquid cleaning detergents. Like most household compositions, they, too, have high ph's.
Even though a household or industrial composition meets its intended performance criteria, it still must meet other requirements, which while not directly related to the utility of the composition, must be satisfied in order for it to be legally marketable. For example, the Federal Hazardous Substances Act regulates the sale of materials including liquid detergent compositions. Most particularly, it prescribes the conditions for sale of such materials which are found to be toxic, corrosive or irritants, as such terms are defined in the applicable Rules and Regulations promulgated under the Act. Environmental statutes are also involved. In recent years environmental criteria have become especially important and it is now a requirement that a liquid cleaning composition contain low levels of phosphate builder salts. In fact, many cleaning compositions are now being formulated with no phosphate builder salts at all. In addition, and again for environmental reasons, liquid cleaning compositions must be readily biodegradeable.
The basic objective of my invention has been to provide a liquid cleaning composition that: (1) satisfies the performance criteria for general home usage including use as a rug cleaner; (2) is non-hazardous; (3) is biodegradeable; and (4) contains no phosphates.
While the prior art is replete with prior art patents attempting to satisfy the foregoing criteria, none has been entirely successful nor has provided all of the attendant benefits and advantages of the compositions disclosed herein. The prior art patents relating to such compositions that are known to me consist of U.S. Pat. Nos. 275,189, 342,279, 1,609,847, 1,657,147, 1,870,804, 2,313,425, 2,623,856, 3,306,860, 3,671,439, 3,674,699, 3,703,469, 3,708,364, 3,708,427, 3,709,825, and 3,749,675.